Cessna 170B
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1952-1956 170, and the version most people mean when they say 170. Cessna gave it the big 'Para-Lift' 40-degree flaps and a revised wing, which transformed its short-field behaviour — it can be flown into places the 170A cannot. It is a four-seat, tailwheel, high-wing aeroplane for people who want to take a family and camping gear to a grass strip and are prepared to learn to land properly.
It is one of the better-value backcountry aircraft, because a 180 or a Super Cub costs two to four times as much to do a related job. Its weaknesses are the 145 hp Continental, which is the limiting factor on a hot day with four aboard and is getting harder to support, and the fact that it is a seventy-year-old airframe where corrosion and old repairs are the real risk. Many 170Bs have been converted to 180 hp or 220 hp Lycomings and to larger tyres — those conversions add real capability and real cost, and the paperwork must be checked. Insurance for a low-time tailwheel pilot in one is not cheap and may require dual before solo.
Variants of the Cessna 170
- 170 · 1948 · 272 active
- 170A · 1949 · 512 active
- 170B · 1952 · 1,300 active · this page
Also consider
- Stinson 108-2Score 29.1/50 · 4 seats · 104 kt
- Cessna 172AScore 35.4/50 · 4 seats · 108 kt
- Piper PA-28-140Score 39/50 · 4 seats · 108 kt
Compare with…
Put Cessna 170B side by side with up to three other models.
- Cessna 170B
Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental C-145-2 / O-300-A |
| Horsepower | 145 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1952 |
| Production end | 1956 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 105 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 500 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 690 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 45 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,820 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,200 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 950 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 725 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,200 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,250 lb |
| Usable fuel | 37.5 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.1 gal/h |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a single-engine piston, 3–4 seats.
| Fuel (burn × price) | hourly | $60/h | $6,002/yr |
| Engine reserve (overhaul ÷ TBO) | hourly | $2,000/yr | |
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | $2,000/yr | |
| Insurance | fixed | $2,000/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | $1,800/yr | |
| Hangar | fixed | $6,000/yr | |
| Rental rate, wet | for comparison |
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $85,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $210,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $30,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $42,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 2,638 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 1,300 |
| Median year built | 1953.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 71 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 54.621 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 47.692 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 242 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 18.623 |
| Airworthiness directives | 4 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,300 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,300 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 1,300 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 2.6 of 101 |
| Severity | 7.6 of 102 |
| Access | 3.8 of 103 |
| Support | 9.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.5 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 26.9 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 204 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 148.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30